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A state bill would allow residents and neighborhood groups to clean up vacant, neglected
properties without the fear of being cited for trespassing.

The measure was passed by the Senate this year and is scheduled for a vote in the House today,
said Sen. Joe Schiavoni, a Democrat from Boardman and the bill’s sponsor.

Youngstown neighborhood groups removing trash and cutting grass at properties were concerned
they could be cited, Schiavoni said. “This gives them the protection and peace of mind.”

Some residents hesitate to take care of the properties around them because they risk trespassing
charges, said Tiffany Sokol, office manager of the nonprofit Youngstown Neighborhood Development
Corp., which boards up and cleans up vacant properties.The bill would allow individuals to clean up
blighted land or buildings that have clearly been abandoned.

“Very ugly, nasty places,” Schiavoni said. “These properties are an eyesore, a danger to their
neighbors.”According to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., that city has 23,000 vacant
lots and 4,500 vacant buildings — about 42 percent of all the parcels there.

Columbus has more than 6,000 vacant and abandoned houses. Neighborhood leaders here said the
bill is a good idea.

“There are a lot of folks out here on the Hilltop that go out and clean up the trash, mow the
lawns,” said Justin Boggs, a Greater Hilltop Area commissioner and member of the Ogden Avenue Block
Watch.

He said he and others collected three or four bags of trash in the spring from the front yard of
a Burgess Avenue property that he called an “absolute disaster.”

Boggs said police know that neighbors who are cleaning up a vacant property are not
intentionally trespassing. And besides, he added, owners of the blighted properties often aren’t
around to press charges.

A good reason for the bill, said Matt Egner, who leads the Franklinton Area Commission, is that
some vacant properties are used as illegal dumps. If the owners won’t clean the properties, there
are others who will.Egner also said he knows several people in his community who remove graffiti
from vacant properties.

Schiavoni said the bill states that people cannot sue property owners if they get hurt while
cleaning up an abandoned property.